Cooling water conductor system in reciprocating piston internal combustion engines

ABSTRACT

A cooling water duct system for reciprocating piston internal combustion engines, particularly for those engines with several cylinder heads, whose discharge apertures for the cooling water are connected to a common collecting line arranged outside of the cylinder heads whereby the collecting line is secured at the cylinder block below the cylinder head seal and the cylinder heads are provided with a vent bore at the highest place of their cooling water spaces.

United States Patent Reisacher 1 51 Mar. 7, 1972 [54] COOLING WATER CONDUCTOR SYSTEM IN RECIPROCATING PISTON INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES [72] Inventor: Josef Reisacher, Wendlingen (Neckar),

Germany [73] Assignee: Daimler-Benz Aktiengesellschaft, Stuttgart- Unterturkheim, Germany 221 Filed: Ju1y2l,1970

21 Appl.No.: 56,806

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data July 22, 1969 Germany ..P 19 37 146.1

[52] US. Cl ..l23l4l.82, 123/4129, 123/4154, 123/4l.74, 123/59 R [51] Int. Cl ..F02f 4/38, F02b 75/20, F01p 3/02 [58] Field of Search ..123/4l.54, 74, 77, 82, 85, 123/28, 29, 25, 59, 59 A, 59 B [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,712,464 5/1929 Woolson ..123/41.54 X 2,094,893 10/1937 Jacoby ....123/4l.74 UX 2,841,127 7/1958 Baster ..123/41.29 X 2,845,051 7/ 1958 Leach 123/4129 2,941,521 6/1960 Rarey et a1 123/41 .82 2,949,103 8/1960 Carlton ...123/41.82 X 2,976,859 3/1961 Bentz 123/41 .54

Primary Examiner-Al Lawrence Smith Attorney-Craig, Antonelli & Hill [57] ABSTRACT A cooling water duct system for reciprocating piston internal combustion engines, particularly for those engines with several cylinder heads, whose discharge apertures for the cooling water are connected to a common collecting line arranged outside of the cylinder heads whereby the collecting line is secured at the cylinder block below the cylinder head seal and the cylinder heads are provided with a vent bore at the highest place of their cooling water spaces.

11 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures 4COMMON COOLING WATER COLLECTING LINE .PAIENTEUMMi 1 1972 FIG! COOLING WATER CONDUCTOR SYSTEM IN RECIPROCATING PISTON INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES The present invention relates to a cooling water conduction system in reciprocating piston internal combustion engines, especially in engines with several cylinder. heads, whose discharge apertures for the cooling water are connected to a common collecting line arranged outside of the cylinder heads.

It is known to connect the discharge apertures or outlets for the cooling water in reciprocating piston internal combustion engines with horizontal or obliquely disposed cylinder rows, especially in V-engines having several cylinder heads, to a common collecting line arranged externally of the cylinder heads. It is proposed in the prior application Ser. No. 819,262, filed on Apr. 25, 1969, and assigned to the assignee of the present application, either to cast the common collecting line integral with the cylinder block or to detachably secure the common collecting line at the cylinder block between the cylinders in V-type engines and to connect the same with channels or ducts of the cylinder block which extend through the cylinder head seal. it is important with this type of construction that the highest point of the collecting line is disposed at the same height or above the highest point of the cooling water spaces in the cylinder head in order that during the filling of the engine with cooling water, no air bubbles can collect in the cooling water spaces which might strongly reduce, for example, the cooling effect of the cooling water at the very hot exhaust valves. For this reason, the previously proposed cooling water duct system is applicable only in connection with engines, in which the cooling water collecting line is arranged at the cylinder block higher or at least at the same height as the cooling water spaces in order that air bubbles or vapor bubbles forming in the cooling water spaces can escape.

The present invention relates to a further advantageous development of the inventive subject matter of the aforementioned patent application. It essentially consists in that the reciprocating piston internal combustion engines are vertical in-line engines in which the collecting line is provided at the cylinder block below the cylinder head seal and whose cylinder heads are each provided at the highest place of the cooling water spaces with a vent bore. By these measures, the advantages which result by the casting-on of the cooling water collecting line at the cylinder block or by the detachable securing of the cooling water collecting line at the cylinder block, can also be achieved with vertical in-line engines. A considerable material and cost saving results from the simplicity of the cooling water collecting line cast integral with the cylinder block. Additionally, the gain in space connected therewith can be utilized for the air line or duct so that the upright in-line engines equipped with a cooling water collecting line secured at the cylinder block have a smaller space requirement. Furthermore, additional advantages are realized which are already mentioned in the aforementioned patent application. Thus, for example, the cylinder heads can be exchanged without disassembly of the cooling water collecting line.

By the arrangement of a venting bore at the highest place of the cooling water spaces of a respective cylinder head, an accumulation of air bubbles during the filling of the engine with cooling water or an accumulation of vapor bubbles is avoided. It is very appropriate if the venting bore is provided in each case on the side of the cylinder head opposite the collecting line because the air bubbles tend to settle at those highest places of the cooling water spaces which are not seized by the cooling water flow or which are affected thereby only slightly.

According to a further advantageous feature of the present invention, the venting bores may be arranged in the cylinder head external of the valve cover. Since the venting bores according to this feature of the present invention are arranged at the engine freely accessible, the cooling water spaces can be very easily vented during the filling of the engine with cooling water.

In one preferred construction of the present invention, the venting bores are connected with each other by way of a common venting line, It is possible by this measure that all cylinder heads are vented in unison because the vent line is arranged above the highest places of the cooling water spaces and the air collecting in the cooling water spaces rises by itself into the vent line. The position of the vehicle and the location of the engine are thereby immaterial if the vent line is provided at its two ends with a vent screw.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a cooling water duct system for reciprocating piston internal combustion engines which avoids by simple means the shortcomings and drawbacks encountered in the prior art.

Another object of the present invention resides in a cooling water conduction system in internal combustion engines in which a common collecting line for the cooling water may be provided at the cylinder block with vertical in-line engines.

A further object of the present invention resides in a cooling water duct system for reciprocating internal combustion engines which not only assures a very satisfactorycooling of all the parts but effectively precludes the formation of air bubbles or vapor bubbles in cooling water spaces that might otherwise endanger the effective cooling of engine parts.

A further object of the present invention resides in a common cooling waterline for reciprocating in-line internal combustion engines which considerably reduces the cost of manufacture and assembly as well as the space requirement for the engine.

These and further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing which shows, for purposes of illustration only, one embodiment in accordance with the present invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view through an internal combustion engine in accordance with the present invention, and

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an internal combustion engine in accordance with the present invention.

Referring now to the single FIGURE of the drawing, reference numeral 1 designates the cylinder block of a conventional upright in-line engine which includes a cylinder 2 and a cylinder head 3. The common cooling water collecting line 4 is cast integral with the cylinder block 1 along the side thereof and is disposed below the cylinder head seal 5. The cooling water collecting line 4 is connected by way of channels or ducts 6 with the cooling water spaces 7 of the cylinder head 3. The cooling water circulation is indicated by the arrows 8'. The danger readily exists at the highest places 9 of the cylinder head 3 that during the filling of the engine with cooling water, vapor bubbles or air bubbles collect thereat since the air bubbles rise in the upward direction and additionally the place 9 is seized more poorly by the cooling water circulation. An air bubble collecting at the highest place 9 of the cooling water space 7 would have as a consequence a very poor cooling of the valve 10. For that reason, a vent bore 1] is provided at the highest place 9 of the cooling water space, into which is screwed a vent screw 12. The vent bore 11 is located outside of the valve cover 13 so that in case of need, it is very readily accessible. The vent bores 11 are connected with each other by way of a vent line 14. The vent line 14 is illustrated only in cross section.

A further advantage of the present invention can be seen from the drawing. The cooling water collecting line 4 cast integral with the cylinder block 1 cools at the same time the valve actuation so that the push rods 15 are subjected to a smaller thermal expansion and the valve clearance 16 between the valve 10 and the rocker arms 17 is hardly changed.

While I have shown and described only one embodiment in accordance with the present invention, it is understood that the same is not limited thereto but is susceptible of numerous changes and modifications as known to those skilled in the art, for example, the cylinder 2 and the part 1 need not be made integral but may be made of several separate parts as is conventional, and l therefore do not wish to be limited to the details shown and described herein but intend to cover all such changes and modifications as are encompassed by the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. A cooling water conduction system in reciprocating piston internal combustion engines whose discharge apertures for cooling water are connected with a common collecting line means arranged external of the cylinder heads, and in which the collecting line means is secured at the cylinder block and is in communication with the discharge apertures by way of channels in the cylinder block extending through the cylinder head seal, characterized in that the engine is an in-line engine in which the collecting line means is provided at the cylinder block below the cylinder head seal, each cylinder head being provided at the highest place of the cooling water space with a vent bore means.

2. A cooling water conduction system according to claim 1, characterized in that said in-line engine is a substantially upright in-line engine.

3. A cooling water conduction system according to claim 2, characterized in that the engine is provided with several cylinder heads.

4. A cooling water conduction system according to claim 3, characterized in that the collecting line means is disposed substantially in its entirety below the cylinder head seal.

5. A cooling water conduction system according to claim 2, characterized in that the vent bore means is arranged in each case on the side of the corresponding cylinder head opposite the collecting line means.

6. A cooling water conduction system according to claim 5, characterized in that the vent line means are arranged outside of a valve cover in the cylinder head.

7. A cooling water conduction system according to claim 6, characterized in that the vent bore means are connected with each other by way of a common vent line.

8. A cooling water conduction system according to claim 7 characterized in that the collecting line means is disposed substantially in its entirety below the cylinder head seal.

9. A cooling water conduction system according to claim 8, characterized in that the engine is provided with several cylinder heads.

10. A cooling water conduction system according to claim 1, characterized in that the vent line means are arranged outside of a valve cover in the cylinder head.

11. A cooling water conduction system according to claim 10, characterized in that the vent bore means are connected with each other by way of a common vent line.

101026 (nos 

1. A cooling water conduction system in reciprocating piston internal combustion engines whose discharge apertures for cooling water are connected with a common collecting line means arranged external of the cylinder heads, and in which the collecting line means is secured at the cylinder block and is in communication with the discharge apertures by way of channels in the cylinder block extending through the cylinder head seal, characterized in that the engine is an in-line engine in which the collecting line means is provided at the cylinder block below the cylinder head seal, each cylinder head being provided at the highest place of the cooling water space with a vent bore means.
 2. A cooling water conduction system according to claim 1, characterized in that said in-line engine is a substantially upright in-line engine.
 3. A cooling water conduction system according to claim 2, characterized in that the engine is provided with several cylinder heads.
 4. A cooling water conduction system according to claim 3, characterized in that the collecting line means is disposed substantially in its entirety below the cylinder head seal.
 5. A cooling water conduction system according to claim 2, characterized in that the vent bore means is arranged in each case on the side of the corresponding cylinder head opposite the collecting line means.
 6. A cooling water conduction system according to claim 5, characterized in that the vent line means are arranged outside of a valve cover in the cylinder head.
 7. A cooling water conduction system according to claim 6, characterized in that the vent bore means are connected with each other by way of a common vent line.
 8. A cooling water conduction system according to claim 7, characterized in that the collecting line means is disposed substantially in its entirety below the cylinder head seal.
 9. A cooling water conduction system according to claim 8, characterized in that the engine is provided with several cylinder heads.
 10. A cooling water conduction system according to claim 1, characterizeD in that the vent line means are arranged outside of a valve cover in the cylinder head.
 11. A cooling water conduction system according to claim 10, characterized in that the vent bore means are connected with each other by way of a common vent line. 